Taylor Swift's Lawyers Fighting Supboena

Taylor Swift’s legal team, represented by Venable LLP, filed a motion to quash a subpoena issued by Justin Baldoni’s attorney, Bryan Freedman, in the ongoing legal battle between Baldoni and Blake Lively over their 2024 film It Ends With Us. 

The subpoena, served last week, sought Swift’s testimony and documents related to her alleged involvement in the film’s production, specifically communications with Lively, Lively’s husband Ryan Reynolds, or others about the film or Baldoni. Swift’s team argues that her involvement was limited to licensing her song “My Tears Ricochet” for the film’s trailer and one scene, a role shared by 19 other artists, and that she never visited the set, participated in creative decisions, or saw the film until weeks after its August 2024 release.

Lively, Swift

The motion to quash, reported on Tuesday, asserts that the subpoena is an attempt to exploit Swift’s fame for “tabloid clickbait” rather than to obtain relevant evidence, as she lacks material knowledge about the case. Request No. 2 of the subpoena, which has drawn attention, reportedly seeks communications involving Swift, Lively, Reynolds, or others concerning the film’s production or Baldoni, but Swift’s team insists these are irrelevant given her minimal role.

The legal dispute stems from Lively’s December 2024 complaint with the California Civil Rights Department, accusing Baldoni of sexual harassment on set and orchestrating a retaliatory smear campaign. Baldoni denied the allegations and filed a $400 million defamation countersuit against Lively and Reynolds in January 2025, alleging they hijacked the film and damaged his reputation. 

The case, Lively v. Wayfarer Studios et al., is set for trial in March 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.